PSALM 72.
BACK TO THE GOD STANDARD.
This is the final psalm in the second book of psalms. When reading it, it
is noticeable that verses 19 and 20 are a doxology. "Blessed be His Name for
ever. Let the whole earth be filled with His Glory. Amen and Amen! The
prayers of David are ended." So they were; for that occasion. The Song is
called the Psalm of Solomon. Something peculiar happens here. Since Solomon
was David's son, he desired everything possible for that boy, and he was
praying earnestly for him. But you will observe as you read through the
psalm, that what David desires for Solomon, can only be fulfilled in the
Millennial Reign of Christ, when His Kingdom shall spread from shore to
shore. Thus it can only be fulfilled in a greater than Solomon. Thus the
psalm looks forward to Messiah. I is one of those occasions that when the
singer begins to sing the Spirit of God gets a hold of the singer and he
utters things which he did not intend to sing. Under the unction of the Holy
Spirit, the psalmist prophecies in his song, uttering glorious words.
Referring to Solomon he says, "Give Thy king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy
righteousness unto the king's son." It is noteworthy that neither David nor
Saul before him, were sons of kings. They were men anointed and raised up of
God to be kings. Solomon was the first KING'S SON. It is delightful to take a
step forward into the New Testament and realise that we are all the King's
Children. We are children of God by direct regeneration; born of God.
If we are truly the children of the King, what standard do we live by?.
Earlier in my life, the economists of this world were advocating that we
should live by the GOLD STANDARD: every commercial activity was supported by
Gold in the Bank vaults. Suddenly there was a new fashion; we came off the
Gold Standard, proudly boasting that our economy would now be based upon the
POWER OF PRODUCTION. No longer did it depend on having enough gold to pay our
way; it now depended on enough energy, power, and work force to produce. The
more we produced, the more powerful we would be. In other words we moved our
standard from gold to the value of work. So, the theory worked like this:- As
the value of work increased, so did our economy grow. But, what they never
told us was this:- That as the value of work decreased, the economy failed.
We are now in the place where the economy is failing. Is there now a
desperate need to return to the Gold Standard?. NO. Christian Nations world
wide need to return to the GOD STANDARD. The Word of God Trumpets out,
"Righteousness exalteth a Nation."
Knock the 'L' out of the Gold Standard, and let us get back to the God
Standard. The depreciation of value in work that is being done is the result
of men forgetting God. Godly men and women always give better value in their
work than any other class of workers in the world. If you have learned to
work for God, you will give any master a good day's work. It is a principle
which Christ teaches : that we serve well.
The Bible tells me that there is coming a man who will have a policy to
cause the nations to prosper. This person is known to Bible Students as the
Antichrist. We are at present in the right condition world wide for the
coming of Antichrist. He will come with the answer to men's problems, and his
policy will cause craft to prosper. All over the world there will be an
outburst of prosperity. He will put recession into reverse. But, it will be
prosperity at a price: "Fall down and worship me!" His influence will only
last for three and a half years. According to God's Book, that will be his
term of office. The same Book declares that Christ will return and set up His
Kingdom, and He will usher in a Thousand years of peace and prosperity.
The psalmist rejoices in God's continued goodness. God had held him from
birth. God had taught him in his youth. God had delivered him from many
dangers. Now, he wanted to declare God's Power to his generation. The New
Testament says that David served his generation. We also can serve our
generation in the Will of God, by demonstrating the goodness of our God. God
has set a standard for human living. Living on the God Standard will bring
all the blessings we long for: health - wealth and happiness. We have
everything to thank God for. The unregenerate blame God for everything and
thank Him for nothing. We need to catch a glimpse of the wonder of God in our
lives. It will light up our living.
The psalmist sings, "Thou hast done great things. "Who is like unto
Thee?". Looking back over his life, he sees the way he has come, and traces
the hand of God in his way. Than, he regards his present condition. "Now,
when I am old, forsake me not." The greatest fear of the old is that they
will be forgotten. The psalmist stirs his faith to sing, "My lips shall
rejoice when I sing unto Thee.". May people's concept of God is reflected in
their singing of hymns. They sing a dirge, they look so mournful, they sound
so mournful too, and in themselves they are mournful. Let your lips rejoice.
I had a friend who whenever he met me as I was looking downhearted would say,
"Give your face a joy ride son! God is still alive!" Saying it, he broke
through the clouds that marred my vision, and put a smile back on my face. We
have the Wonder of our God, now, and for ever. Going on the God Standard is
living life as God intended we should live it.
Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved.
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